December
28th, 2021
Defining
a role for youth in Kenyan poultry value chains:
For
2SCALE, the youth have and will always be at the centre of
all activities that we undertake. As an inclusive business
accelerator, it is imperative that in all of our interventions,
we endeavour to give voice and opportunity to the youth. This
youth centric focus is not only limited to 2SCALE, but also
to the SMEs that we partner with across Africa.
One
such SME that is always putting youth at the forefront of
their operations is Homerange Poultry Kenya.
A
New Farmer Extension Model
In
Early 2020, the company came up with a novel concept called
Village Poultry Health and Extension Services Agents (VPHESA).
This concept would engage the youth (after rigorous training)
to be mobile input distributors of chicken products as well
as offer extension services to farmers on behalf of HPK. In
return, the agents would earn commissions from their sales
and extension services offered, a scenario that is a win-win
for booth the agents and HPK.
Ian
Mutwiri, CEO of Homerange Poultry said,
After
the training, the VPHESA agents were equipped with overalls
and HPK identification badges to enhance their credibility
and acceptance by farmers on the ground. The inputs that are
sold by the VPHESA agents are also from HPK, helping to make
the value chain vertically integrated, which is also aimed
at promoting business sustainability and market share.
Reception
of VPHESA by Farmers
Grace
Syombua, 32, is one of the VPHESA agents who has already hit
the ground running in Makueni County. She was a business lady
who second hand clothes and a small-scale farmer but upon
hearing about VPHESA from a friend, she enrolled for the training
program by HPK. After completing the 3-month training program
and passing the exam, Grace officially commenced work in November
2021.
“I
myself am excited to get the knowledge from the training as
I had chicken but all of them died due to the disease. If
I had the knowledge I have now, they would still be alive.
The business is gathering steam and so far, I have 25 serious
farmers who I serve. The margins are really good and on a
good day I can make up to KES 600 per day. The only challenge
I have is the transport as some of the farms are very far
from each other which means I have to spend more to get there
and this eats into my margins. Other than that, this is an
excellent option for youth like me,” says Grace.
Another
challenge that is also prevalent in the areas serviced by
the VPHESA agents is the fact that there are some companies
that try to undercut the competition by offering lower prices,
albeit with the products being of lower quality.
“The
thing that sets us apart as VPHESA is the quality of inputs
that we offer as well as the fact that the same person is
working as an input provider, extension officer as well as
an aggregator for the chicken when ready. An additional value
add is that most of the agents are people that are known to
the farmers are most are drawn from the localities they serve,
hence creating a personal touch,” explains Ian.
So
far, the VPHESA rollout is off to a promising start in Makueni.
If the current positive outlook continues, the plan is to
scale up into the other counties HPK is operational in and
engage more youth in poultry farming. Stay tuned for more
updates on progress here.
For
further reading please visit https://www.2scale.org/fr/updates/defining-a-role-for-youth-in-kenyan-poultry-value-chains-fr
-----
THE END -----
|